Part 35 (1/2)
”Then what are we going to do?”
Lock slowed Sea Storm as they approached the gypsy camp. He didn't now how he could have missed them before, but they were probably still packing away their stalls in the market while he was searching the countryside.
”h.e.l.lo!” he shouted as he approached. A tall, heavyset older man walked toward him, a woman with piercing gray eyes at his side. The woman stared at him hard, but Lock ignored her glare and said, ”I'm looking for a woman.”
”That's one thing we don't sell.” The woman lifted her chin. ”If you want wh.o.r.es, go to the pier-”
”I'm not looking for a wh.o.r.e. I'm looking for my betrothed.” Lock ignored the woman's smirk. ”She's about as tall as that old man over there. Blond hair, blue eyes, very beautiful.”
The woman laughed. ”She's probably a toothless, freckle-faced hag.”
Lock resisted the urge to dump the woman in the nearest mud pile. Instead he glanced at the others. ”Has anyone seen a woman who fits that description?”
The tall man shrugged. ”There are many yellow-haired women.”
”She's missing part of her left ear.”
”Did you bite it off?” The annoying woman continued. ”She's probably running away from you.”
The woman's words struck him like a fist. Though he hadn't bitten Sparrow's ear, he felt responsible. He'd taken her from a happy life into a world of violence and greed. She's asked him to leave the Lady Fire, but he wanted the power of commanding a pirate s.h.i.+p. He'd wanted it more than he'd wanted her...
”Perhaps she's lost in the woods,” someone suggested.
”Or maybe she took the ferry upriver.”
”Or-”
”Thanks.” Lock dismounted. ”Mind if I have a look around?”
”Who do you think you are?” The woman placed her hands on her hips. ”You get out of here!”
”Mita,” the man held open his hands, ”let him look. We've nothing to hide. All we need is for a rumor spread that we've had something to do with a missing woman and it will ruin our sales at the market.” He glanced at Lock. ”Come. I'll show you around our settlement.”
Lock nodded and followed the man around the wagons and caravans. The man even allowed him to look inside. Lock was suspicious of such cooperation, but he saw no sign of Sparrow.
In spite of a camp full of raised eyebrows, he knelt down and inspected the bottom of the wagons and caravans. Several times he'd transported stolen goods over land by strapping them to the bottom of wagons. He searched several piles of hay the gypsies horses munched, but found nothing of importance.
He talked to some of the gypsies who understood the languages he spoke. While he conversed with a skinny young girl, he notice Sea Storm lope toward the old man by the fire. The man's wrinkled face was smeared with dirt, and a patch covered one of his eyes. Straggly gray hair hung across his brow, and his limbs looked too slim to support the protruding gut Sea Storm nuzzled. The man pushed the horse away.
”Stop it!” Lock snapped at the horse, tugging him from the man. ”Sorry, friend. He usually doesn't take to people so easily.”
The man shook his head and ambled to the fire, leaning on a walking stick for support. Lock watched him, thinking, it's certainly no fun getting old, but the idea of growing old with a woman like Sparrow makes anything in life seem worthwhile.
”Are you finished?” demanded the woman, Mita.
”Yes. Thank you.”
”Luck to you,” said the man who'd shown Lock around the camp.
Lock nodded, mounted Sea Storm, and with a heavy heart, rode back to the s.h.i.+p.
He reached the dock well past midnight. The crewmen had found no sign of Sparrow, and Lock knew they watched him with wary eyes. If he didn't take control of the s.h.i.+p and set sail again, there would undoubtedly be attempts on his life. He didn't care. Until he found Sparrow-dead or alive-he wasn't about to leave the dock.
”Where you going, Captain?” asked the first mate as Lock took Sea Storm's reins and led the horse away from the pier. ”Aren't you coming back aboard?”
”After I cool down my horse.”
”The men are wondering when we're going to set sail.”
Lock dropped the reins and approached the man, using his height to advantage as he glared down at him. ”We'll go when I say. Now get back on board while you still have legs to walk there.”
”Aye, Captain.”
Lock walked Sea Storm to a field about half a mile from the dock. There, he turned the horse loose to graze. Lock should have been tired, but he was unable to rest. Fear was an unfamiliar emotion to him, but since he realized Sparrow was missing, terror such as he'd never known had built steadily within him.
Hearing hoof beats, he glanced over his shoulder, watching Ilias approach on horseback.
”Sparrow?” Lock asked.
Ilias held his eyes, and Lock sensed hesitation. ”I've come to talk about Sparrow.”
”What about her?” Lock demanded, taking a step closer. Ilias backed the horse away and reached for his sword. ”Get off that horse and tell me what you know about her!”
”I came here to tell you, but I ain't getting off the horse. Call for yours and I ride out of here.”
”Talk!”
”First, Sparrow is not hurt and she's not dead.”
Lock felt as if a weight had been lifted from his belly. ”Where is she?”
”I can't tell you that.”
Lock's teeth clenched and he reached for the horse. Ilias kicked the animal away.
”Ilias-”
”I'm risking my life coming to you at all! I know you're a killer, and so does Sparrow. That's why she left!”
”What are you talking about?”
”She told me she couldn't stand living on the Lady Fire anymore. She said she couldn't stand seeing what you've become.”
”She said that to you?” Lock wasn't sure if he was more angry at Sparrow or himself. She'd discussed him with another man. She'd confided in Ilias, but not in him.
”She told me many things, and I'm glad she did. I'm saying this because I consider Sparrow a friend and I know she's in love with you. Maybe if you know her reasons for leaving, you'll stop pirating and try to make yourself a decent man for her, if you can. Maybe you won't. I don't know. Maybe you love yourself more than you can ever love her. If that's the case, then it's better she left.”